Chicago Politics

Chicago 312: Pay No Attention to the Water Bills Behind the Curtain

May 14, 2026

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6 min read

Chicago 312: Pay No Attention to the Water Bills Behind the Curtain

A data center stole 30 million gallons of water, the Obama Center's anti-displacement ordinance was never used once, and Geneva is about to decide whether your boss can keep calling itself an algorithm.

H Kapp-Klote

Chicago Politics

Chicago 312: Words Are Killing Ken Griffin

May 7, 2026

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4 min read

Chicago 312: Words Are Killing Ken Griffin

This week: Walgreens closes another South Side location, Ken Griffin is mad at Mamdani for the same reasons he supposedly left Chicago, and data centers aren’t a real revenue solution.

H Kapp-Klote

Chicago Politics

Apr 30, 2026

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4 min read

Chicago 312: It's Not Just A Newsletter -- It's a Newsletter About Eileen O'Neill Burke Refusing to Investigate Federal Agents

This week: the Feds egged on Midway Blitz, the Doom of the Clipping Economy, Democrats found a platform, and Springfield's about to let the millionaires tax die.

H Kapp-Klote

Chicago Politics

Chicago 312: City Council Votes to Freeze Tipped Worker Wages, Just Because

Mar 19, 2026

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11 min read

Chicago 312: City Council Votes to Freeze Tipped Worker Wages, Just Because

This week: Election, More Election, City Council, Raja Krishnamoorthi's lack of open bar

H Kapp-Klote

Movement Communciations

How to Build a Post-"Nobody Nobody Sent" Chicago Politics

Mar 17, 2026

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5 min read

How to Build a Post-"Nobody Nobody Sent" Chicago Politics

The Chicago Machine died a while ago, but the Zombie Machine lived on. Tonight might kill it once and for all. (One more piece of 09 content)

H Kapp-Klote

Chicago Politics

A $1.6 Billion Agency You've Never Thought About on the Ballot Next Week

Mar 14, 2026

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5 min read

A $1.6 Billion Agency You've Never Thought About on the Ballot Next Week

Three seats on the water agency that controls $1.6 billion and whether your sewer backs up. Here's your cheat sheet for March 17.

H Kapp-Klote

Chicago Politics

Chicago 312: Raja Krishnamoorthi Wants to Abolish the ICE He's Taking Checks From

Mar 12, 2026

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11 min read

Chicago 312: Raja Krishnamoorthi Wants to Abolish the ICE He's Taking Checks From

This week: Mayor Johnson declared a budget victory over no one in particular and Raja Krishnamoorthi's donor list is not the greatest!

H Kapp-Klote

Chicago Politics

Chicago 312: Kristi Noem Doesn't Know Who You Are (But She's Sure You're a Terrorist)

Mar 5, 2026

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12 min read

Chicago 312: Kristi Noem Doesn't Know Who You Are (But She's Sure You're a Terrorist)

This week: CCPSA, the Bears bidding war, Kansas attacks on trans people. Also, what are you reading?

H Kapp-Klote

Chicago Politics

Feb 24, 2026

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7 min read

Maria Pappas Never Claimed to Be a Nun

Long live Maria Pappas: a Chicago character in every era.

H Kapp-Klote

Chicago Politics

(CORRECTION) The 312: Johnson Writes Orders, O'Burke Ignores Them, and Chicago Celebrates Moving Its Own Money Around

Feb 5, 2026

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13 min read

(CORRECTION) The 312: Johnson Writes Orders, O'Burke Ignores Them, and Chicago Celebrates Moving Its Own Money Around

Chicago 312: ICE is on notice in Chicago, I still don't know what a TIF Sweep is, and a *community poll* about how much X personally and politically scrambles your brain.

H Kapp-Klote

Chicago Politics

Jan 29, 2026

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12 min read

🚨 The 312: Who is Tom Homan?

Chicago 312: CPD Collaboration With ICE, Municipal Debt, and a Deep Dive Into the Garbage History of Tom Homan

H Kapp-Klote

Chicago Politics

🚨 Chicago 312: Don't Invade Minnesota in the Winter

Jan 22, 2026

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11 min read

🚨 Chicago 312: Don't Invade Minnesota in the Winter

Chicago 312: healthcare cowardice, procurement reform that actually matters, and gig workers fighting for the right to push back when the algorithm screws them.

H Kapp-Klote

Chicago Politics

Jan 18, 2026

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11 min read

🚨 Chicago 312:

Trump threatens $3B in cuts, CCPSA stalls on CPD-ICE investigation, and Edgewater NIMBYs sue to reverse upzoning.

H Kapp-Klote

Chicago Politics

🚨 Chicago 312: Fake Budgets, Real Robots

Dec 11, 2025

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6 min read

🚨 Chicago 312: Fake Budgets, Real Robots

Chicago 312: A shutdown threat, made up revenue, rogue delivery robots, and South Shore tenants getting punished for surviving a federal raid.

H Kapp-Klote

Chicago Politics

🚨 Chicago 312: Let's Fix the Budget Gap With An Alternate Reality Game Sponsored By ExxonMobil

Dec 3, 2025

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10 min read

🚨 Chicago 312: Let's Fix the Budget Gap With An Alternate Reality Game Sponsored By ExxonMobil

Chicago 312: A CPD consent decree check in, budget fighting, data centers, and moss doing more work than half our institutions.

H Kapp-Klote

Chicago Politics

🚨 Chicago 312: Chicago’s First Real Revenue Fight in Decades

Nov 20, 2025

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10 min read

🚨 Chicago 312: Chicago’s First Real Revenue Fight in Decades

Chicago 312: budget standoff, pushback on DoorDash, the CHA in limbo, and why conservative media keeps winning the long game.

H Kapp-Klote

Movement Communciations

Vertical Video For People Who Hate Making Vertical Video

Nov 19, 2025

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13 min read

Vertical Video For People Who Hate Making Vertical Video

Why organizers need vertical video, and how it builds narrative power.

H Kapp-Klote

Chicago Politics

Nov 13, 2025

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12 min read

🚨 Chicago 312: National Pundits Have Once Again Discovered Chicago Politics

Chicago 312: ICE in court, tons of post-shutdown fallout, and budget fights -- plus, a lot of discourse.

H Kapp-Klote

Movement Communciations

What Campaigns Keep Getting Wrong About Creators

Nov 11, 2025

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13 min read

What Campaigns Keep Getting Wrong About Creators

Part of a new Chicago 312 segment on movement communications and narrative: what's working, what's not, and what's possible.

H Kapp-Klote

Chicago Politics

Nov 6, 2025

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8 min read

🚨 Chicago 312: It's Not Their City

Chicago 312: ICE raided a daycare. Springfield bailed out the trains. Chicago isn't Greg Bovino's city.

H Kapp-Klote

Chicago Politics

🚨 Chicago 312: Six Indictments and a Funeral (for Transit)

Oct 30, 2025

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9 min read

🚨 Chicago 312: Six Indictments and a Funeral (for Transit)

Chicago 312: Rossana’s going full forensic accountant on Motorola and CDW, Greg Bovino’s taking thirst traps at the federal courthouse, and JB Pritzker is ghosting transit.

H Kapp-Klote

Chicago Politics

Oct 8, 2025

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15 min read

🚨 Chicago's Martial Law Week

Chicago 312: Federal troops, ICE in vans, fascist optics — all while Chicago continues budget season.

H Kapp-Klote

Chicago Politics

Oct 1, 2025

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11 min read

🚨 ICE v. Bike

Chicago 312: federal cops turning the city into a police state, local officials chasing Fox News airtime.

H Kapp-Klote

Chicago Politics

🚨ICE Is Doing Call of Duty LARP in Broadview

Sep 24, 2025

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9 min read

🚨ICE Is Doing Call of Duty LARP in Broadview

Chicago 312: ICE militarized Broadview, Trump is the only one paying attention to the CTA cliff (bad news), and City Hall’s “budget menu” is still regressive.

H Kapp-Klote

Chicago Politics

Sep 17, 2025

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7 min read

🚨 just in time for tornado season

Chicago 312: ICE is here no matter how National Guard drama plays out, Chicago’s budget “solutions” lean regressive, and the Charlie Kirk narrative machine is already rewriting history.

H Kapp-Klote

Chicago Politics

Chicago 312: Pay No Attention to the Water Bills Behind the Curtain

Chicago 312: Words Are Killing Ken Griffin

Chicago 312: It's Not Just A Newsletter -- It's a Newsletter About Eileen O'Neill Burke Refusing to Investigate Federal Agents

Chicago 312: City Council Votes to Freeze Tipped Worker Wages, Just Because

How to Build a Post-"Nobody Nobody Sent" Chicago Politics

A $1.6 Billion Agency You've Never Thought About on the Ballot Next Week

Chicago 312: Raja Krishnamoorthi Wants to Abolish the ICE He's Taking Checks From

Chicago 312: Kristi Noem Doesn't Know Who You Are (But She's Sure You're a Terrorist)

Maria Pappas Never Claimed to Be a Nun

(CORRECTION) The 312: Johnson Writes Orders, O'Burke Ignores Them, and Chicago Celebrates Moving Its Own Money Around

🚨 The 312: Who is Tom Homan?

🚨 Chicago 312: Don't Invade Minnesota in the Winter

🚨 Chicago 312:

🚨 Chicago 312: Fake Budgets, Real Robots

🚨 Chicago 312: Let's Fix the Budget Gap With An Alternate Reality Game Sponsored By ExxonMobil

🚨 Chicago 312: Chicago’s First Real Revenue Fight in Decades

Vertical Video For People Who Hate Making Vertical Video

🚨 Chicago 312: National Pundits Have Once Again Discovered Chicago Politics

What Campaigns Keep Getting Wrong About Creators

🚨 Chicago 312: It's Not Their City

🚨 Chicago 312: Six Indictments and a Funeral (for Transit)

🚨 Chicago's Martial Law Week

🚨 ICE v. Bike

🚨ICE Is Doing Call of Duty LARP in Broadview

🚨 just in time for tornado season

The Chicago 312

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